invacar LightBulbFun's Invacar & general ramble thread, index on page 1, survivors lists on Pages 24/134 & AdgeCutler's Invacar Mk12 Restoration from Page 186 onwards, still harping on...

[LightBulbFun]

6 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

As bought.  It runs, all the brightwork (apart from the beauty rings which always seem to be missing) is there, as is all the glass.

As it was left the last time I did any work on it, as far as I'm aware it hasn't progressed since.

As a project car it's not a bad prospect, it's certainly not falling apart (or wasn't last time I was working on it), but it does need some welding in the boot and the front wings redoing better than they were.  There's enough there to make a really nice car that nobody wants and that's probably the main reason it's sat around doing nothing for so long.  It's a passion project rather than a sensible business proposition.

hah shares a registration series  with this surviving AC Acedes Mk10 Model 57  (was Lancia in the UK based in Surrey or something? thats 2 for 2 so far!) 

On 13/05/2020 at 17:16, LightBulbFun said:

FPD167B, AC Acedes Mk10 (Model 57), Date of first registration 8 December 1964, current status, ex combe martin vehicle otherwise unknown, SORN, Date of last V5C (logbook) issued 13 September 2012

 

also shared with this AC Acedes Mk10 Model 57 from the same block

[LightBulbFun]

had a good phone call just now with The owner of UOI8850, (I have been helping him over the phone over the past few months with said Model 70  )

he mentioned last phone call that he had got his hands on a Model 70 to break for spares, and it sounded a lot like he might have got his hands on RRE20L, so I pleaded with him not to break that one for spares given its private example status

turns out its not RRE20L but he actually got his hands on "WPD607G" the Model 70 that had been sitting behind the Invacar factory for who knows how long now!

and he realised that its far to good to break for parts, so has now somewhat accidentally ended up with 2 Model 70's LOL, I did try and ID which Model 70 "WPD607G" is over the phone with him, since that number plate is of an AC Acedes Mk14A Model 67!

but strangely he says the normal chassis number location on the chassis is blank!, (I was able to send him some pictures of the location thankfully) so thats quite odd, but hopefully he will get me some pictures in the next couple days and Ill see with my own eyes whats going on there

 

but am pleased to know which 2nd Model 70 he got and its good to know where "WPD607G" has ended up, I am a Little bit surprised it was sold as I knew the elmsleigh invacar people did not want to sell it (I believe @bobdisk did enquire about this Model 70 just earlier this year)

but it sounds like its gone to a good home and hopefully ill be able to ID which Model 70 it really is  

[Eyersey1234]

Chodtastic news 

[LightBulbFun]

20 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Chodtastic news 

indeed WPD607G 

is one thats been on my radar since almost the start of this thread

so im excited to finally be able to try and get it ID'ed and put on the survivors list  

[bobdisk]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

but am pleased to know which 2nd Model 70 he got and its good to know where "WPD607G" has ended up, I am a Little bit surprised it was sold as I knew the elmsleigh invacar people did not want to sell it (I believe @bobdisk did enquire about this Model 70 just earlier this year)

but it sounds like its gone to a good home and hopefully ill be able to ID which Model 70 it really is  

They would not part with it when I enquired. It was supposed to have a "special meaning" for them I was told, something to do with Bert Greeves and Derry Preston-Cobb' s early Model 70, I believe.

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, bobdisk said:

They would not part with it when I enquired. It was supposed to have a "special meaning" for them I was told, something to do with Bert Greeves and Derry Preston-Cobb' s early vehicle I believe.

yeah which is why im surprised to see they did sell it, I hope its not a case of them needing money because the business is in the rough  or such, would be a shame to see them go under, that last descendent of Invacar Ltd

I do hope to go visit them in person with REV when I can!

 

although "WPD607G" is sadly not Derry Preston Cobb's vehicle, his Model 70 was TTW581K, an Early Invacar Model 70 Mark A with many special modifications, "WPD607G" is a Post March 1976 Model 70 Mark B, so not the same vehicle sadly

 

[LightBulbFun]

just got the picture of where the chassis number should be on the actual chassis and it is indeed blank...

(and we are pretty sure that its not been rubbed off or such, the original chassis paint etc was there)

this one is going to be a bit more difficult!

 

I do recall @Zelandeth said that on one of his Model 70's that he found a number in a completely different location to where they normally are, however I have checked both TPA and KPL and they have their chassis numbers in the regular locations

however maybe Zel stumbled an unknown across a 3rd location? (although I recall it being mentioned that the number did not match what was on the VIN plate or maybe V5?, but I know TPA and KPL's numbers match on the chassis and VIN and DVLA records, so who knows what was actually found!)

 

I have thankfully got an engine number and all Model 70's from this period have the engine number recorded on their V5, obviously engines can be swapped between vehicles, but it gives me something to work with!

ill either have to triangulate it using other known engine numbers etc (funnily its not all that far off REV's engine number LOL) or see if I can get can ask nicely and have the option of looking up vehicles by engine number added to my special tool

 

as a side note despite the AC badge on the front, it looks "WPD607G" is an Invacar Model 70, from whats been described to me over the phone it had an invacar shaped VIN plate at one point, and from the pictures It looks like the chassis is Invacar blue rather then AC Blue

[bobdisk]

I came across this pic of WPD about the time i spoke to them.  (Mon 13 Apr 2020 10∶39∶44 BST) The server will not upload the pic, keeps coming up with "Error 200" Been having lots of odd problems with site since it was recently updated.

 

[LightBulbFun]

5 minutes ago, bobdisk said:

I came across this pic of WPD about the time i spoke to them.  (Mon 13 Apr 2020 10∶39∶44 BST) The server will not upload the pic, keeps coming up with "Error 200" Been having lots of odd problems with site since it was recently updated.

what device are you browsing from? 

the recent update, sadly broke compatibility with a lot of older devices/web browsers

 

is it a physical picture/one you took yourself or can you link me to the source where I can view it there?

(is it the one in your wanted advert on Retro Rides?)

ill also PM you my email address so you can email it to me  if the forum uploader wont play ball 

[bobdisk]

I use Linux operating system. and am using Firefox for Ubuntu,  and both are up to date. (Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian mostly composed of free and open-source software. It is secure, I have had no virus since using it. ) I could move to a second pc using Windows 10  if that will help when this plays up.

[LightBulbFun]

8 minutes ago, bobdisk said:

I use Linux operating system. and am using Firefox for Ubuntu,  and both are up to date. (Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian mostly composed of free and open-source software. It is secure, I have had no virus since using it. ) I could move to a second pc using Windows 10  if that will help when this plays up.

Hmmm strange, I have made this response/post from an Ubuntu 20.0.4 Virtual machine with Firefox to test things out

and I dont seem to have any issues, (things seem to upload fine etc)

@tobyd is the nice chap who maintains the forum software and server side stuff, so I have tagged him and I guess it might be worth getting in contact if the issues persist (are your issues something that happen consistently or is it a bit random?)

but as a work around, yeah I would try another web browser like Chrome and see if that works any better? :)

 

[tobyd]

I like now Gnome3 uses 'Activities' as its start menu label... always seems slightly awkward wording somehow.

Anyhow, I use Mint 20 with Firefox (not ESR) dual booted on my machine (with win10) and I've not noticed anything odd. If you want to PM me the image I'll have a look.

[bobdisk]

Hi, @tobyd, @LightBulbFun,  I noticed the main problem is that when it gets stuck, an icon that looks like a "pause", two vertical lines, appears in the tab with the moving dots. When that goes, the page carries on.   I click on the bell (notifications) and the window will open. When I click on the new notification, it will sometimes get stuck, and that pause icon with moving dots appear, but more often will go to the notification.  When pause goes, I refresh the page and carry on. I wonder if someone else has logged on to the same page at the same time.

If I try to upload a pic, any pic, one of mine, or one I have already downloaded and saved, (regardless of size, "Invacar at Elmsleigh" is 47.5kB, ) it will not upload, and comes back with 

"Sorry, an unknown server error occurred when uploading this file.

(Error code: -200)"  in a window.

 

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

got a couple more pictures of "WPD607G", and its continuing to be a bit of a strange one, Defo Invacar chassis, but the rear end has a hoop style stay with no prevision for the rod type engine cover stay which would say AC rear end, but it has im pretty sure Invacar pinched mould lines rather then the rounded AC type

although I have not been able to find an early Invacar Model 70 yet that I can use for to figure out what the early Invacar Model 70's did and did not have sadly

I dont know for example when the pinched mould lines where introduced on Invacar Model 70's perhaps they where always like that from the word go? or maybe they only became a thing after the Factory fire? I just dont know exact sadly

I know the DHSS parts list alludes to the Rod style Bonnet stay being a later change (including mentioning it being changed on AC Model 70's but every single AC Model 70 I have seen from the earliest to the latest has had a hoop style stay with no previsions for a rod stay, so go figure that one out!)

which would imply the Early Invacar Model 70's also had hoop style rear engine cover stays and so simply "WPD607G" has the rear end from an earlier Invacar Model 70, but more info/research is needed to say for sure

 

 

for comparisons heres a picture of REV's engine bay where you can see the rod style stay and the little dimple moulded into the body work for it to sit in

[LightBulbFun]

yay just as I hoped, the guy visiting the museum in Germany with the small gaggle of British invalid vehicles has uploaded a picture of the AC Acedes Mk14 or Mk14A (im not sure which it is) Model 67 I knew they had  

sadly no registration plate, but hopefully theres a VIN plate still

https://flic.kr/p/2jN8W4K

I think the last invalid vehicle they have that I dont have a photograph of is their AC Model 64, hopefully a picture of that will be uploaded in good time  

 

 

I also realised the guy uploading them is the same chap who uploaded this photo of KPA185K last year

https://flic.kr/p/2fovW7d

 

[High Jetter]

KPA looks Reliant?

[LightBulbFun]

11 hours ago, High Jetter said:

KPA looks Reliant?

KPA185K is one of 3 Prototype city cars AC built, on the Model 70 platform 

or at least part of it, id love to see one in person and go over it with a fine tooth comb and see whats what, I know the driveline is Model 70 for sure and I imagine the 3 wheelers at least share a good bit of Model 70 DNA in their chassis if they dont just use a Model 70 chassis in its entirety, and im quite curious to see how the 4 wheeler was put together 

(sadly there are not really any detailed photographs of them AFAIK just a few overview shots)

the other 2 are OPK110L and VPA167M, while from what I understand while all 3 thankfully do survive AFAIK they have all been exported from the country sadly

its a really fascinating what could have been, as the Model 70 itself under its old basic looking body work and invalid vehicle stigma was/is actually quite sophisticated and well built vehicle, so the question of what would the Model 70 have been if it was built to be/as a private car rather then an invalid vehicle has been asked on several occasions and this gives us some idea of what that might have looked like  

sadly the project fell through as the problem was that the Model 70 unlike pretty every other car of similar size, was built up to a specification rather then down to a price, (the government would be/was buying 99% of them, it did not matter much what they cost as long as they matched the governments specifications)

and while thats good for building a decent robust long life vehicle, its not so good for the cost sensitive small car market so the project fell through sadly (especially as AC did not have much money to spare at that point etc with the AC 3000ME project going as well* as it was going etc)

[coalnotdole]

7 hours ago, High Jetter said:

KPA looks Reliant?

Seconded, Theres definitely a lot of shared design cues with the regal!

 I'm fairly certain those are Regal/Rebel door mouldings and frames - Would be interesting to see a photo showing the interior of the doors to compare.

Dave

[LightBulbFun]

4 hours ago, coalnotdole said:

Seconded, Theres definitely a lot of shared design cues with the regal!

 I'm fairly certain those are Regal/Rebel door mouldings and frames - Would be interesting to see a photo showing the interior of the doors to compare.

Dave

sadly im not aware of any detailed photographs of the interior etc  but I know KPA185K used to frequent the micro car shows back in the 1980's etc so hopefully maybe someone grabbed some then?, but at least I know where one is so I can go grab or ask for photos in the future

there is also a rear facing picture somewhere quite clearly showing a Model 70 exhaust/heat exchanger  

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

Had lesson 51 today as my next test is coming up on the 13th of October (I may have said the 14th at the FoD but its the 13th) and my instructor is back from his "use it lose it" paid leave

went fairly well, a little bit rusty in places, and it was probably not helped by the fact I did not sleep well (sadly a chronic issue thanks to my back issues)

but hopefully by the next lesson ill back in the swing of it  

(I have another lesson on Friday, and then the test, I however would ideally like 3 lessons before the actual test it self, so Have asked my instructor if I can use my remaining hours for a lesson on Monday just before the test on the following Tuesday, but still waiting to hear back on that) 

 

(as a side note I wish there was FoD gathering right before my test, they might knacker my back, but by gosh do they help with my driving if the one lesson I had just after the august FoD gathering was anything to go by LOL that lesson was amusing, I was worried it would go poorly due to my back still hurting extra from the FoD gathering, but it was one of the best drives I had done according to my instructor, which is why I have decided to try and get a lesson the day before my test, even if it means less back recovery time)

[egg]

Good luck. I assume the same arrangements will apply that the test ends if a failure occurs?

I only found out today that AC Cars built trains for Southend Pier back in the late 40's. They'd build anything for a few quid!

[LightBulbFun]

Just now, egg said:

Good luck. I assume the same arrangements will apply that the test ends if a failure occurs?

yeah just checked the gov website today and same arrangements apply if I fail they just instruct you back to the test centre

(they dont tell you have failed until you get there however)

1 minute ago, egg said:

I only found out today that AC Cars built trains for Southend Pier back in the late 40's. They'd build anything for a few quid!

indeed pretty much yeah LOL they also golf club bags complete with independent suspension LOL

 

[Mrs6C]

51 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

my next test is coming up on the 13th of October

Keep an eye on the weather and what that means in the test wrt using headlights, leaving greater distances to the car in front and minding the effect of sidewinds, surface water etc. October can offer blustery showers to torrential rainfall and floods!

[plasticvandan]

Definitely regal doors modified with a recess for the handle on the town car.

Here's a bonus colour shot of a tippen and Harper

 

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, plasticvandan said:

Definitely regal doors modified with a recess for the handle on the town car.

Here's a bonus colour shot of a tippen and Harper

 

thats a very cool picture thanks for sharing it  

Tippen Delta Mk2 and Harper Mk6, very interesting to see the white and red colour scheme on the Harper!

there is also curiously an earlier open style invalid carriage just half in shot infront of the Harper

(side note im curious what the small green toy? car is between the Frisky and Bond, was that really villiers powered?! it looks like a pedal car LOL)

[Mr Pastry]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

(side note im curious what the small green toy? car is between the Frisky and Bond, was that really villiers powered?! it looks like a pedal car LOL)

Google Johnstone's Miniature Coaches.  They came in various sizes and were indeed Villiers powered.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Mr Pastry said:

Google Johnstone's Miniature Coaches.  They came in various sizes and were indeed Villiers powered.

wow thats pretty amazing! surprised I never heard of them before! totally beats the pants off the poxy plastic battery powered things you see these days in argos and what have you LOL

just did some quick googling with the info you provided and I was curious to know if they where ever road registered and indeed some actually got road registered!

and I came across one thats still on the DVLA today FPM404, which amusing is registered as a single decker bus

can you imagine turning up in it at a place that does bus MOT's and asking for one? LOL

that was a neat rabbit hole to delve down into  

and of course the british pathe have a short video on one  

 

[High Jetter]

Brighton registered and filmed on Madeira Drive Brighton (where the November car run finishes). That front No plate is poorly positioned - right in the poor kid's way!

[Mr Pastry]

9 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

that was a neat rabbit hole to delve down into

Thought you'd like that.  Now try googling mechanical elephants.  

[LightBulbFun]

13 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Thought you'd like that.  Now try googling mechanical elephants.  

not villiers powered 5/10 ( well I dont think? but the smaller one "jumbo" is mentioned having a 2 stroke engine so thats probably villiers LOL)

just kidding LOL

that was another interesting read, where they really road registered?

https://thegardenstrust.blog/2014/07/10/mechanical-elephants/

does anyone know the registration number of one of these elephants? (not something I ever thought id say)

what does it show up on the DVLA as? LOL

I have many questions LOL